Ken Keaton

“No me pueden quitar lo que he bailado”(Spanish proverb: They cannot take away from me that which I have danced)

Ken Keaton is a professor of music at Florida Atlantic University, where he teaches music history, classical guitar, and chamber music. He is the director of the undergraduate honors program for the Department of Music at Florida Atlantic University, and served as Associate Dean of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters from 1993 to 2008. He has been an active performer for many years, with a particular interest in chamber music and works for voice and guitar, and has presented concerts throughout southern Florida, the eastern United States, and in Europe. Dr. Keaton has performed with the FAU Chamber Soloists and on the Chamber Music Series of the the Department of Music. He has released a CD of Franz Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin.

Dr. Keaton studied at the University of Miami with Juan Mercadal, earning his doctorate there in 1980 (this was only the second time the Doctor of Musical Arts degree had been awarded to a guitarist at a U.S. institution). Subsequent study has included master classes with Pepe Romero, Sharon Isbin, and David Russell. His publications include editions of the works of Napoleon Coste and transcriptions of the works of John Dowland (for Warner Bros. Publications), and he was the Guitar Forum Editor for American String Teacher from 1993 through 1995. He has, for several years, written as music critic, reviewing recordings for American Record Guide and live performances for The Palm Beach Daily News. He is an active member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and writes for their on-line site, Classical Voice North America, http://classicalvoiceamerica.org.

Dr. Keaton resides in Lauderhill with his wife Wendy, four parrots, eight Plumeria frangipani, and nearly fifty transient Purple Martins. In his spare time, he pursues his favorite hobbies of paleomalacology, snail darting, embouchure, oenology, and Epicurean polemics.

Campuses:

Florida Atlantic University embodies a culture of strategic and collaborative community engagement that results in mutual benefit to the institution and the diverse internal and external communities that it serves.